Small SSW Swell Fills In

The after fourth of July crowd was thick this morning as the newly energized south southwest swell filled in after a slow and arduous climb up the wave ht. and period scale. I surfed both boards in back to back sessions, starting with the Angulo custom SUP and finishing with Coffey 6-10 shortboard. The higher tide began swamping the line-up so I probably picked the right order to surf the boards, SUP first, shortboard last.

I paddled out to Red House at about 0920. Since this swell wasn't really a macker (unlike last weeks, early week southerly swell) there wasn't a lot of energy left over for the lower reefs. As per usual for the southies, there was a pretty long wait in between sets. I pulled the new Speedwings out of the 6-10 and screwed them into the slots on the SUP to see how they would perform. Right after my session I headed over to Freeline and bought another set, dedicated to the SUP. These fins just flat out work great. On my first wave I pushed the SUP over into a hard right hand turn, sinking the tail and back of the rail into the wave face. The fins had a buttery, solid feel as they literally pushed the board forward and out of the turn seamlessly. I think I've found the only set of sides fins I'll ever need again. At least they work really well in these two boards, which aren't exactly identical by any means. The Speedwings are free to try so stop by Freeline or O'Neills and get yourself some. And...they're only 36 bucks for two...you don't get a center fin. I'm not getting any royalty or anything from RFC, I just really like these fins and they're worth a try. (Well, maybe I am something of a fin freak.)

The most consistent spots were Scimi's and GDubs, which were absolutely jam packed with post holiday surfers. The sets were good though, ranging in from waist to head high with six to eight waves per set. The later waves dropped down in size a bit, and were more walled, while the earlier waves had longer shoulders and longer rides.

Since I really wasn't getting any of the best waves because they just weren't coming through at Reds and Sarges, I paddled in and swapped out the SUP for the shortboard. I paddled around Sarge's main point and then walked up to the point at GDubs on the rapidly narrowing sand between the incoming ocean and the unrelenting cliff. I ended up chatting with a least a half dozen folks in the water, and even ran into Larry and his son Ramey. I've known Larry, a longtime Deputy Harbor master, for over 30 years, and his son Ramey (one of my EMT grads) just got a job as an EMT working on an ALS car in a nearby county. No small feat these days when everyone seems to be cutting staff. Anthony and Gu were out at Scimi's and Barry, John and Dean were taking a few down at Sarges and Red House. Can't blame everyone for being out. The weather was gorgeous, sunny and warm with only a light onshore wind.

We'll have to get what we can, while we can. Forecast for the next little while doesn't look too promising.

No pics today. I didn't have time to get any after the session with my Canon and my Oly water cam is still in for warranty repairs.

July 6, 2009 (M)

In: 0920
Out: 1126
AT= 59-62F
WT= 58.6F
Wx: Sunny
Tide: 2.5'-4.0' Rising
Wind: Calm to Light from the east-southeast
Sea Surface: Glassy to light wind ripples
6-10 Ward Coffey EPS (Marko Styrolite)/Epoxy Custom

Fin set-up: Thruster with RFC Speedwings and Future Eric Arakawa 450 center
10-0 Angulo EPS/Epoxy Custom SUP with Infinity Ottertail carbon fiber paddleFin set-up: Thruster with K2D2 4.75" center fin (fourth mark up from back) and RFC Speedwings
Bathymetry: Rock reefs and sand
Deep Water Swell and Wave Face Heights CDIP Archive
Buoy: NWS (Farshore*)
Time NDBC Data (approx.) CDIP Data
0900: 3.3 feet @ 14.8 SSW (195) (3-4 ft. wave faces)
1000: 2.3 feet @ 16 SW (205) (3-5 ft. wave faces)
1100: 3.0 feet @ 16 SW (200) (3-4 ft. wave faces)
1200: 3.3 feet @ 14.8 SSW (210) (2-3 ft. wave faces)
1300: 3.0 feet @ 16 S () ()
1400: 2.6 feet @ 16 S () ()